Public Statement :: Repression and illegality

State government applies illegal strategy to repress protest in São Paulo

The São Paulo state government, using the Military Police, staged yesterday evening, January 12, another episode of repression, violence and illegality by preventing a protest organized by the Free Fare Movement against the increase in public transport fares.

The São Paulo state government, using the Military Police, staged yesterday evening, January 12, another episode of repression, violence and illegality by preventing a protest organized by the Free Fare Movement against the increase in public transport fares.

The events reveal that the security forces intimidated and encircled the demonstrators, violating the principle of proportionality when dispersing the protest, and gave chase through the streets of downtown São Paulo.

At least 28 people were injured and 15 were taken to hospitals in the region, according to information from GAPP (Popular Protest Support Group), which provides first aid services during protests.

The Military Police, which reports to the São Paulo State Public Security Department, repeated methods already condemned internationally by human rights organizations and stepped up its repressive strategies, employing the dangerous tactic of encircling the demonstrators and leaving them without an exit route. According to the Public Security Secretary, Alexandre de Moraes, in a press conference yesterday evening, this strategy will be used whenever a protest is not informed in advance.

Conectas condemns the conduct of the state government and considers the tactic used by the police to be illegal and in breach of international recommendations on the use of force. What’s more, the São Paulo police once again violated the right to protest and the freedoms of movement, expression and association. The clear intention of the police to prevent the protest constitutes a violation of constitutional rights.

It is also necessary to urge the Public Prosecutor’s Office to better perform its constitutional duty to provide an external control of police activity, in addition to rigorously investigating all the violations that are committed.

The lack of transparency and accountability for officers involved in abuses during the 2013 and 2014 protests is a license for the police to continue acting in an illegal, violent and unacceptable manner.